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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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hallucinogens

The bone, black henbane seeds and tar plug used to keep it sealed. Source: BIAC Consult

For Pain or Pleasure? Poisonous Plant Henbane Used by the Romans

While digging at the site of a rural, first-century AD Roman settlement in Houten-Castellum in the Netherlands, archaeologists uncovered a most unusual artifact. Inside a hollowed-out animal bone,...
An ancient Egyptian Bes vase once contained a potent hallucinogenic concoction. Source: Neuroshock / Adobe Stock /Overlay; Tanasi et. al / CC BY 4.0

Hallucinogenic Substances Detected in 2,200-Year-Old Egyptian ‘Bes’ Vase

An exciting new study has revealed long-hidden secrets contained within an ancient Bes vase dating back to Ptolemaic era Egypt. Researchers conducted exhaustive chemical analysis of the second...
Artist’s impression of the dyeing scene in the funerary chamber.         Source: Oriol Garcia i Quera, ASOME-Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona/Nature

Island Near Spain Reveals Evidence of Hallucinogenic Use in 1,000 BC

A new study has produced evidence that ancient peoples living on a Mediterranean island off the coast Spain nearly 3,000 years ago were regularly consuming hallucinogenic drugs obtained from plants...
Left; Aztec god Xochipilli as described in the 16th century Codex Borgia, Right; Xochipilli, Aztec terracotta Lombards Museum. Source: Left; Public Domain Right; CC BY 3.0

Xōchipilli: Fun-Loving Aztec God of Sex, Drugs, and Music

The Aztecs were known for their many unique deities, but one of the most fascinating is Xōchipilli, the Aztec god of flowers, love, art, and fertility, as well as patron of homosexuality. Xōchipilli’...
Maya pottery found in Guatemala depicting a man applying a ritual drug enema, from the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.			Source: Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Maya Drug Enema Study Receives Ig Nobel History Prize

Mesoamerican tribes have had a long history of administering liquids through the lower digestive tract in a procedure known today as an enema. Maya drug enemas included psychoactive substances,...
Witch on a broomstick. Source:  T.Den_Team / Adobe Stock

The Cringeworthy Reason Witches are Shown Riding Broomsticks

What comes to mind when you think of a witch? For most people, the first image that comes to mind is of a witch flying through the night sky on a broomstick. Ever wondered why witches have been...
The Mexican magic mushroom or Teotlnanácatl mushroom is believed to be one or a mixture of these two psilocybin mushrooms of Mexico: Psilocybe aztecorum and | or Psilocybe mexicana.		Source: alexander_volkov / Adobe Stock

Teotlnanácatl: In Search of the Aztec 'God's Flesh' Psychedelic Mushroom

Magic mushrooms, Shrooms, and the ever-famous Liberty Cap are all familiar terms for the same groovy fungus. Popularized in the western world in the late 50s, psychedelic mushrooms have been used for...
Oxygen Deprivation Led To Altered States For Subterranean Artists

Oxygen Deprivation Led To Altered States For Subterranean Artists

Getting stoned, or high, has always been a way to escape the pressures of day-to-day reality. However, modern artists and psychonauts are at the end of a long chain of stoners that apparently began...
Magic Flowers of U.S. Dream Trippers Found at California’s Pinwheel Cave

Magic Flowers of U.S. Dream Trippers Found at California’s Pinwheel Cave

When you think of psychedelics and the United States, famous psychonauts like Timothy Leary, Gerry Garcia and Jim Morrison come to mind. In the 1991 movie, The Doors , Jim Morrison got seriously...
Psychoactive substances used by shaman have been found in Bolivia  Source: Ammit / Adobe Stock

Paraphernalia Discovered in Bolivian Cave Shows Ancient Ayahuasca Use

In 2001, American rapper Afroman released the sensational song “Because I Got High” in which he almost “cleaned his room” but got “high” instead. Now, it would appear that ancient cultures in South...
Amazonian Shaman Smoking

Kill or Cure: The Evolution of Addiction Treatment Through the Ages

As far back as history has been recorded, mankind has been using hallucinogens , opioids and stimulants for many varied purposes. Medical treatments, nutritional supplements, religious rituals, and...
Israeli town of Yavneh

Israeli town of Yavneh had thriving drug culture 3,000 years ago

Archaeologists discovered traces of hallucinogenic substances used over 3,000 years by the Philistines living in ancient Yavneh, Israel, revealing a drug culture that is believed to have revolved...
Drug culture in Tiwanaku, Bolivia

New study sheds light on drug culture in Tiwanaku, Bolivia

Unlike modern Man, ancient inhabitants of the Andes did not use mind-altering substances simply for their hedonistic pleasure. The use of alcohol and plant drugs was highly regulated and went hand-in...